Marshall wrestling team goes 1-1 in Pipestone

February 1, 2013

The big guys stepped up for the Marshall/Lakeview wrestling squad Thursday as the Tigers split a pair of Southwest Conference duals at a triangular in Pipestone.

The Tigers opened the day with a dual with Pipestone and played catch-up most of the match, falling 49-27. Marshall then faced the Luverne Cardinals in a match that came down to the wire. The Tigers trailed 35-24 heading into the final two bouts and got pins by Justin Varpness (220 pounds) and Austin Nath (heavyweight) to escape with a 36-35 victory.

The Tigers started off slow against Pipestone and struggled to get their footing. The Arrows got pins in the first two matches before Nick Erbes (120) and Matt Facile (126) evened up the score with pins for the Tigers. But Pipestone won the next seven matches from there to take control of the dual.

"There were a couple of matches there where we were a little overaggressive and it cost us. That just kind of widened the gap for us and it was hard to close," Marshall head coach Justin Bouwman said.

The Tigers finished the Pipestone match strong with three straight wins. First Jared Holland earned a 7-4 decision against Jared Hillard at 195 pounds, and then Varpness and Nath each earned a pin for the Tigers.

Bouwman said the end of the match was important for his team heading into the dual with Luverne.

Fact Box

Pipestone 49, Marshall 27

106-Garrett Ploeger (P) pinned Toby Semler, 3:09

113-Michael Suda (P) pinned Devyn Martzloff, 2:56

120-Nick Erbes (M) pinned Nathan Westfield, 3:38

126-Matt Facile (M) pinned Logan Steenstra, 3:37

132-Cole Nordmeyer (P) pinned Brent Breczinski, 2:57

138-Alex Ossefoort (P) dec. Riley Roth, 6-2

145-Walker Kor (P) maj. dec. Ramzi Gregoire, 9-1

152-Brady Bos (P) pinned Jarrett Louwagie, 1:42

160-Allan Hachman (P) won by forfeit

170-Will Smith (P) pinned Campbell Hofstetter, 3:25

182-Cole Staples (P) won by forfeit

195-Jared Holland (M) dec. Jared Hillard, 7-4

220-Justin Varpness (M) pinned Blake Wolters, 3:19

Hwt-Austin Nath (M) pinned Jared Nygaard, 1:34

Marshall 36, Luverne 35

106-Semler (M) dec. Jayden Renken, 6-2

113-Will Natte (L) maj. dec. Martzloff, 9-1

120-Erbes (M) maj. dec. Adam Fodness, 11-2

126-Facile (M) pinned Cody Hess, 1:49

132-Solomon Nielsen (L) pinned Breczinski, 5:51

138-Roth (M) tech. fall Isaac Funes, 15-0

145-Eli Dooyema (L) dec. Gregoire, 7-1

152-Zack Gillette (L) maj. dec. Louwagie, 11-1

160-Unknown (L) pinned Sam Prorok, 1:30

170-Hofstetter (M) pinned Spencer Oeltjenbruns, 1:10

182-Ethan Johnson (L) pinned Brandon Appel, 1:22

195-Wyatt Aubert (L) pinned Holland, 2:35

220-Varpness (M) pinned DJ Reker, 5:13

Hwt-Nath (M) pinned Cody Rofshus, 1:11

"The big guys definitely started a momentum swing for us going into that Luverne match," he said. "That got everyone going. Guys were kind of down in the middle of that Pipestone match and those wins at the end really fueled us."

Toby Semler (106), Erbes and Facile helped the Tigers off to a hot start against the Cardinals, winning three of the opening four matches. Luverne then won four of the next five to gain the momentum. A pin by Marshall's Campbell Hofstetter at 170 pounds stopped a string of three straight Luverne wins, and after a pair of pins by Luverne, the Tigers responded with the key pins by Varpness and Nath to seal the deal.

"It's pretty easy to be confident when you have Justin and Austin up there as the last, especially with how well they've been wrestling for us," Bouwman said.

The Tigers are back on the mat Saturday when they compete at an invitational hosted by Mankato East.